KENNY DALGLISH today delivered a heartfelt message of thanks to Liverpool FC supporters as he started coming to terms with being sacked as Anfield manager.

KENNY DALGLISH today delivered a heartfelt message of thanks to Liverpool FC supporters as he started coming to terms with being sacked as Anfield manager.

The club legend and departed Reds boss, who was dismissed late yesterday by Boston based owners Fenway Sports Group, also called on Liverpool fans to stick by the owners who pulled the plug on his reign after just 16 months.

Dalglish, now on holiday abroad, told the ECHO late last night: “The response from the supporters on social media websites has been overwhelming and very, very humbling. Liverpool is still a great football club, still a club that should believe in whoever is going to come in after myself.

“Hopefully they will support that person as well as they have supported myself, which has been fantastic. The support the fans gave us was a huge influence in winning that (Carling Cup) trophy.

“To be perfectly honest, in most of the games this season the players have covered themselves with great credit. They have been a credit to themselves and to the football club.”

Added Dalglish, whose high profile signings included young stars like Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson: “You cannot underestimate the pressure that is on a boy who comes to play for Liverpool.

“But in the first year, what they have done has been a credit.

“There is now a great foundation to build on and to move forward with. The supporters, not just for myself but for everyone else, have always been fantastically supportive of the team – and that should not change.

“No one should underestimate the role the Liverpool fans play - or the appreciation the players have for the supporters.

“Taking aside the decision made about myself, for four players to be in Roy Hodgson’s England squad for Euro 2012, and for Jordan Henderson to be on standby as well, is a great credit to the players.

“It’s fantastic for the club and those players – and I hope they go on and represent everybody well.”

Added Dalglish: “The fans will always, always stick with Liverpool Football Club and support the players and the team and the person that is to be the next manager of the club. That’s the way these fans have been brought up and that’s the way it should continue.

“For me it’s obviously going to be different, not being involved in the way I have been as before. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want Liverpool to go on now and be really successful. And that’s the same for anyone who now comes in to the club.

“What Liverpool FC deserves and the supporters deserve is far more important than me.”

Regarding the American owners, under fire from some LFC fans over the controversial decision, he said: “I would hope nobody would prejudge things now. The owners have their own reasons for doing what they have done.

"They came in to help the club at a time when it wasn’t in a great condition. They have improved it, taken it forward and are doing the best they can.”

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The Editor

Alastair Machray

Alastair Machray was appointed editor of The Liverpool Echo in 2005 and is also editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He is a former editor of The Daily Post (Wales and England) and editor-in-chief of the company's Welsh operations. Married dad-of-two and keen golfer Alastair is one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country. His titles have won numerous awards and spearheaded numerous successful campaigns.